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User blog:GlitterInformer/Doki Doki! Pretty Cure/Glitter Force Doki Doki SDC: Episode 24 (Sub), 18 (Dub)
Episode 23 (Sub), 17 (Dub) | Table of Contents | Episode 25 (Sub), 19 (Dub) Japanese title: "What a Shock! Mako-pi Declares Her Retirement!" English title: "Mackenzie Loses Her Mojo" I’m really sorry for not having updated the sub/dub comparison at all for over three weeks. I haven’t forgotten about you all; I’ve just been very busy now that summer vacation is over. I’ll continue the sub/dub comparison as best I can, but the pace might be a lot slower from here on out. Last episode had Cure/Glitter Heart following the first oath/rule of Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force and, as a result, gaining a pink aura and a significant power-up in her physical attacks against the Jikochuu/Mercenares. This episode is going to focus on Makoto/Mackenzie, so my prediction is that she’ll do something similar. I do know from the Pretty Cure Wiki that all five Cures get the cool fiery aura eventually. As usual, the episode starts with a recap narrated by Maya. This extends into the first shot of the episode proper, which is narrated over by Maya. DD24 01 added flashback 1.png|Maya: "Maya here." DD24 02 added flashback 2.png|Maya: "Even though we finally found Princess Marie Angelica..." DD24 03 added flashback 3.png|Maya: "...we're all disappointed that we haven't been able to revive her." DD24 04 added flashback 4.png DD24 05 added flashback 5.png|Maya: "It's hardest on Mackenzie, of course..." DD24 06 added flashback 6.png|Maya: "...who remembers how much the princess used to love to hear her sing." DD24 08 added flashback 8.png DD24 09 added flashback 9.png|Maya: "That was back when they both lived on Splendorius..." DD24 10 added flashback 10.png|Maya: "...and it was a happy and peaceful place." DD24 11 added flashback 11.png DD24 12 added flashback 12.png|Maya: "'Course, Mackenzie has her fans here on Earth, too..." By the way, Netflix recently implemented a feature where you can skip the recaps in Glitter Force Doki Doki by clicking a button. It’s a nice way for people to opt out of recaps when they’re watching multiple episodes back to back, while still giving people a chance to catch up if they haven’t watched in a while. I wonder how many other Netflix shows have similar features? I know Stranger Things, another “Netflix Original”, has a feature that lets you skip the opening theme. The Japanese version just starts right with… what the heck. What the actual heck. It’s been approximately half a year since we first saw Makoto/Mackenzie doing music videos for her song. We know it’s been six years because the girls were in winter outfits with long sleeves in the first few episodes and started wearing their summer outfits with short sleeves at about episode 19. It has been six months, and Makoto/Mackenzie is STILL recording music videos for the exact same song. Even if this is some live performance instead of a music video, why is she performing that same song!? It’s been half a year. There’s no way that song is a hit anymore. She’s got to have new songs at this point. After the (pointless and redundant) filming is over, Makoto/Makcenzie and DB/Davi go to their dressing room. DB says that Makoto’s concert is completely sold out and that her fans want an encore performance; Davi says that Mackenzie seemed distracted during her performance and asks what’s wrong. Makoto/Mackenzie says that maybe she should stop singing. She did it in the first place to find the princess, but it was all pointless because it was the Royal Crystals, not her singing, that found her. Besides, now that the mission’s over, there’s no point in singing, even if it did help before. DB/Davi says that Makoto/Mackenzie wasn’t just singing for the princess, but for her many fans as well. We then cut to the four girls hanging out and wondering who exactly Cure/Glitter Ace is. There’s a flashback to her fighting one of the Jikochuu/Distains from last episode. In the sub, this flashback is mostly silent; in the dub, dialogue is added over it where Rachel asks who Glitter Ace is and says that she’s “a little pushy.” Dabi/Davi says that Ace is extra mysterious since she knows for sure that Sword/Spade was the only Pretty Cure/Glitter Force warrior left from the Trump Kingdom/Splendorius. Everyone tries to figure out where Ace came from. During this, there’s a spinning shot of all of the girls thinking. This is cut from the dub. DD24 13 cut spinning 1.png DD24 14 cut spinning 2.png DD24 15 cut spinning 3.png DD24 16 cut spinning 4.png DD24 17 cut spinning 5.png Rikka/Rachel says it’s weird that when Ace wasn’t transformed, she was younger than them and looked to be about in the third grade. Suddenly, the girl in question pops in and says that she’s in the fourth grade. There we have it: confirmation that she is, indeed, a little kid. Why does she sound like a teenager in the dub? The others are shocked – well, except for Arisu/Clara, who is calm as usual. Arisu politely greets the girl; Clara says that they “totally weren’t talking about” her. Then, at last, we find out the girl’s name when she isn’t Cure/Glitter Ace. Name Change: In the sub, the girl’s name is Aguri Madoka. In the dub, it’s Natalie and no last name is given. In the sub, the girls just stare and Mana and Rikka say, “Uh…”. In the dub, Maya and Rachel do the same, but dialogue is added where Clara awkwardly says, “Oh, hi… uh… Natalie.” We get the opening themes. The sub’s still isn’t edited to show Cure Ace, by the way. Then, after the sub’s title card, Aguri/Natalie cuddles with Ai/Dina just like in last episode. Aguri/Natalie is then distracted by the food on the table and demands to know what it is. Arisu/Clara explains that it’s cake that Sebastian made. In the sub, they’re peach roll cackes; in the dub, they’re peach sponge cakes. Sebastian serves Aguri/Natalie some cake, which she reluctantly tries. Upon eating it, she’s shocked into temporary silence. Mana/Maya is concerned, but the reason Aguri/Natalie is so shocked is because it tastes just that good. She goes on to compliment all of the little bits of the cake, such as the texture, the whipped cream, and the peaches. Mana/Maya is stupefied that she got all of that from just one bite. Aguri/Natalie is in awe of Sebastian. She compliments him on how seriously and professionally he does his work. Then, she sits down and says to Makoto/Mackenzie that she pales in comparison. Aguri/Natalie listened to Makoto/Mackenzie’s singing last night and was disappointed. Mana/Maya, Rikka/Rachel, and especially Dabi/Davi understandably get mad at this girl butting in to criticize Makoto/Mackenzie, who is a very talented and popular singer. Aguri/Natalie understandably replies that her reputation doesn’t matter and that it’s the quality of the singing that’s the real deal. Aguri says that she didn’t hear love in Makoto’s singing but instead heard doubt; Natalie says that Mackenzie seemed to be going through the motions and didn’t put her heart into her singing. This comment pierces through Makoto/Mackenzie’s mental armor and leaves her shocked. In the sub, the close-up on Makoto’s hurt and shocked eyes is silent; in the dub, dialogue is added where Natalie says that Mackenzie knows she’s right. Aguri says that she bets Makoto is embarrassed by her performance; Natalie says that a performer should put all of herself into every performance, something that Mackenzie didn’t do. Mana/Maya blows her stack and says that Makoto/Mackenzie is very busy because she’s a Pretty Cure/Glitter Force warrior as well as a singer. Aguri/Natalie retorts that Makoto/Mackenzie isn’t very good at being a warrior, either. She points out that they would have lost episode’s battle if she didn’t intervene. Mana has no retort to this; Maya says that Natalie may have helped out a little. Aguri/Natalie says the others need to work a lot harder on their duties as warriors or they won’t be able to defeat King Jikochuu/Mercenare. Then, she thanks Sebastian for the cake and leaves. Mana/Maya chases after Aguri/Natalie, but when she opens the door, Aguri/Natalie is already gone. In the sub, we fade directly from the afternoon to the evening. In the dub, we instead fade from the afternoon to black and then from black to the evening. Mana/Maya tells Makoto/Mackenzie that she’s looking forward to her next concert. Maya also says that Natalie is “nuts.” Makoto/Mackenzie, however, thinks that Aguri/Natalie is right. She admits that she has been having doubts about her music. Makoto says that now that the princess has been found, she no longer knows what she’s singing for, and she can’t sing well with such doubt in her mind. Mackenzie says that she only sang to find the princess, so now that she’s been found, she should focus her efforts on finding a way to revive her. Makoto/Mackenzie tells the others that she’s going to quit singing and that she’ll announce her retirement at her next concert. Mana/Maya and Rikka/Rachel are shocked and tell her not to do that, but Makoto/Mackenzie says she’s already made up her mind. She gets in the car and DB/Davi drives her away. As the car disappears into the distance, Mana insists that Makoto can’t be serious, while Maya says that they have to change Mackenzie’s mind. A shot of DB/Davi and Makoto/Mackenzie in the car is flipped. DD24 18 japanese car.png|Mana: "She can't quit! She just can't!" DD24 19 english car.png|Maya: "We can't let her! We've got to find a way to change her mind!" The sub fades to black before cutting to school; the dub cuts directly to school. After an exterior shot, we cut to a room that is unique to Japanese schools. In Japan, it’s considered unhygienic to wear your outside shoes inside of a home or school. It makes sense; you don’t want somebody stepping in mud or dog poo and bringing that inside. Japanese schools have a shoe locker area where students take off their casual shoes from outside and put on school shoes. In America, people just wear the same shoes everywhere, so these sorts of rooms don’t exist. I guess this room could pass for a regular locker room in the dub, though. Anyway, Mana/Maya has a plan to persuade Makoto/Mackenzie to start singing again. She puts on a self-made mask to disguise herself as Princess Ange/Marie Angelica and walks up to Makoto/Mackenzie. In her best princess impression, she tells Makoto/Mackenzie that she mustn’t give up singing. Naturally, Makoto/Mackenzie immediately recognizes Mana/Maya and asks, annoyed, what the heck she was doing. Mana/Maya says she thought Makoto/Mackenzie would listen if it was the princess telling her not to give up singing. In the sub, Mana asks how Makoto knew it was her and Makoto says that the princess never called her Mako-pi like Mana did. Mana is extremely upset that her plan failed and Rikka says that that can’t have been the only reason it failed. In the dub, Maya says that she must have persuaded Mackenzie for a little bit and Mackenzie says she knew it was Maya from the start because the princess is a lot taller. Maya says she should have worn heels and Rachel says that Mackenzie still would have known it was her. Arisu/Clara has a plan of her own. She rents an entire professional orchestra to perform out in front of the school. Name Change: This probably won’t matter because the orchestra will probably never appear again, but in the sub, they’re the Yotsuba Philharmonic Orchestra. In the dub, they’re simply the symphony orchestra. Arisu says that they’re the Yotsuba Philharmonic Orchestra and politely asks Makoto to sing with all her might. Clara says that she rented the orchestra and that they know all of Mackenzie’s songs. But even surrounded by students who expect Makoto/Mackenzie to do an impromptu performance, Makoto/Mackenzie runs off and refuses to sing. In the sub, Mana says that the live performance plan didn’t work either, Arisu says she thought Makoto would just burst into song, and Rikka says that Arisu probably made things even harder for Makoto. In the dub, Maya says that Mackenzie must not like oboes, Clara says that it may be clarinets that she dislikes, and Rachel sarcastically says that Clara should have rented a marching band instead. Oh, and there’s a funny error with Netflix’s subtitles for this part of Glitter Force Doki Doki. The subtitles refer to Clara as Claire, even though that name has never been used in the franchise. DD24 20 claire.png|Claire Maybe she doesn't like violins. sighs After school, Makoto/Mackenzie practices running so as to make herself strong enough to be able to defeat King Jikcohuu/Mercenare. She’s running so fast that it’s making Dabi/Davi, who is dangling from her pocket, bounce around and scream in fright. Eventually, Makoto/Mackenzie is coming across Mana/Maya, who is singing to try to get Ai/Dina to fall asleep. It’s even worse than last time, and of course, it doesn’t work. She asks Makoto/Mackenzie to try singing instead. Makoto/Mackenzie is willing to at first, but then she remembers that she’s done with singing and refuses to help Mana/Maya. Mana/Maya asks why she’s quitting singing when so many people love hearing her perform. Makoto/Mackenzie says that she’s not the only singer there is and starts to walk away. Mana/Maya stops Makoto/Mackenzie by pointing out that Makoto/Mackenzie seemed to love singing. She has fun when she sings, and that makes everyone else have fun, too. Makoto/Mackenzie walks away again, though, claiming that there’s no time for fun right now. As Makoto/Mackenzie walks away, Dabi says that everyone loves hearing Makoto sing, while Davi says that it’s a shame that Mackenzie is quitting something she’s so talented at. Makoto/Mackenzie is worried that Dabi/Davi’s going to lecture her like Mana/Maya did, but Dabi/Davi says that she wants Makoto/Mackenzie to do whatever she wants and that she’ll support her no matter what. Makoto/Mackenzie then starts running again. In the sub, this is silent, so it’s ambiguous what Makoto thinks; in the dub, dialogue is added where Mackenzie thanks Davi and Davi shouts that she won’t support Mackenzie running like crazy again. We cut to the villains’ lair, where Leva/Riva and Gula/Gura are trying their hands at the bowling alley. Leva/Riva is using his top hat instead of a bowling ball to knock down the pins. Meanwhile, Gula/Gura eats the bowling ball and complains that it tastes horrible. The dialogue is changed a bit. In the sub, Leva shouts something along the lines of, “Take this!” as he throws the top hat, Gula says that the bowling ball tastes bad, and Ira says that it’s not food. In the dub, Riva asks if throwing the hat is how you do bowling, Ira says it isn’t, Gura asks how the others eat bowling balls when they taste so bad, and Ira says they don’t. The group then gets into an argument. In the sub, Marmo says that Leva and Gula aren’t cultured enough to truly appreciate bowling. Leva says that they do know how to bowl. For some reason, this causes Gula to laugh and Ira and Marmo to get angry. Leva tells the others to go off and find the princess, which causes Bel to get angry that the two are ordering them around. Gula says that it’s not Leva’s order but King Jikochuu’s. With no other choice, Ira, Marmo, and Bel angrily teleport away. In the dub, Marmo says that Riva and Gura “could learn a thing or two from” them. Leva wonders if Marmo could teach them how to lose. This line makes it make more sense that Gura bursts into laughter and Ira and Marmo get angry. The next bit of dialogue is almost the same as the sub’s, except instead of Leva telling the trio to find the princess on King Jikochuu’s behalf, Riva instead tells them to clean the restrooms. Oh, look. The subtitles don’t even know who Marmo is. DD24 21 ira & woman.png|& woman Hmph! After the three are gone, Leva/Riva looks at the TV, which is broadcasting Makoto/Mackenzie’s performance from the beginning of the episode. Leva simply says that it seems interesting; Riva says that Glitter Spade is about to sing her swan song. In case you don’t know (I'' didn’t know), a “swan song” is a person’s final performance before retirement. It’s a fitting expression for this episode. We get the eyecatches in the sub. Then, we cut to the Yotsuba Dome, the location of Makoto/Mackenzie’s final performance. Much to Mana/Maya’s dismay, Makoto/Mackenzie hasn’t arrived yet even though her performance is about to begin. In the sub, Arisu says they can’t contact Makoto and Rikka says that the concert will begin any minute now; in the dub, Maya’s the one who says that the concert’s going to start soon since she begins speaking earlier, so Clara says that somebody should look for Mackenzie and Rachel wonders if she’s already retired. Bottles of Ace Tea in the background are edited to just say, “Tea”. DD24 22 japanese tea.png|Ace Tea DD24 23 english tea.png|Tea Mana/Maya and company, plus Sebastian and some security guards, run off to search for Makoto/Mackenzie. In the dub, as the guards run out, dialogue is added where one of them tells the others to search backstage. As the guards leave and the door closes, a brunette woman is revealed to be standing behind the door. Meanwhile, near the dome, Makoto/Mackenzie is sitting on a bench. Dabi/Davi tells her that she should head to the dome to perform her concert. Makoto/Mackenzie agrees, but she’s clearly very nervous about it. With the dressing room empty, the brunette from earlier considers barging in. In the dub, the woman’s voice acting is noticeably stilted, though I guess this isn’t a big problem since she only appears for about half a minute. This consideration causes darkness to appear in her Psyche/heart, which allows Leva/Riva to turn it into a microphone Jikochuu/Distain. The Jikochuu has the usual male voice; the Distain either has a female voice, an artificially pitched-up voice, or both. If it’s the former or the latter, then this Distain is the second Distain to have a female voice, even though it’s not the second Distain to come from a female victim. Leva/Riva and the Jikochuu/Distain then hijack the concert, billing themselves as the highlight of the show. When Leva/Riva asks everyone to make some noise, the crowd is in silent shock. When the crowd is shown, some T-shirts are edited so they don’t say, “MakoP”. I guess that was her nickname all along instead of “Mako-pi”. Oh, well. I’ll keep that in mind for the future. DD24 24 japanese shirts.png|MakoP DD24 25 english shirts.png|Mackenzie (How the ''heck does that one guy have a picture of Glitter Spade? And how does he know she's Mackenzie?) Leva/Riva is displeased by this, so he makes the Jikochuu/Distain emit feedback that makes everyone in the audience cover their ears. This is desaturated in the dub. DD24 26 japanese feedback 1.png|Jikochuu: "LEEEEAVE!!!" DD24 27 english feedback 1.png|Distain: Riva "Good idea!" DD24 28 japanese feedback 2.png|Audience: *SCREAMS* DD24 29 english feedback 2.png|Distain: "WAAAAAAAGH!!!" For some reason, the feedback doesn’t affect Mana/Maya, Rikka/Rachel, or Arisu/Clara. Mana/Maya tells the girls to transform. As she says this, a sign behind her is removed in the dub. Also, the desaturation continues. DD24 30 japanese sign.png|Watch Your Head DD24 31 english sign.png The three girls transform and Heart does her catchphrase. It seems that the Distain has a female voice after all, given that Glitter Heart refers to it as “Ms. Microphone”. Leva/Riva sends the Jikochuu/Distain to attack, but in little time at all, Heart kicks it high enough to launch right through the ceiling and into the sky. This allows Makoto/Mackenzie and Dabi/Davi to notice it. Why didn’t Dabi/Davi notice the Jikochuu/Distain earlier? Don’t fairies/pixies have the ability to sense this stuff? Back on the roof, the Jikochuu/Distain thrusts its microphone hand at Heart. It seems to be about to hit her, but it turns out that the Jikochuu/Distain just wants to interview her. In the sub, the Jikochuu asks Heart if she has someone she likes, Diamond what grade she got on her last test, and Rosetta how much money she has in her savings. In the dub, the Distain asks Heart what her favorite kind of music is, Diamond what her boyfriend’s favorite dessert is, and Clover what her favorite branch of government is. Heart is too shocked to say anything, and Diamond vehemently refuses to answer the Jikochuu/Distain. Cure Rosetta calmly says that she hasn’t counted her money before; Glitter Clover calmly says that she isn’t very good with politics. The Jikochuu/Distain gets mad at them not answering its questions properly and flings them away. While they’re flying through the air, Diamond asks what’s with the questions. Cure Rosetta says that it’s an invasion of their privacy, while Glitter Clover says that she didn’t even get to study. Cure Heart says that regardless, the Jikochuu is strong; Glitter Heart says that they need to keep watch on the Distain’s attacks. Then, the Distain shoots cords out of its hands and ties the girls up. This is darkened. DD24 32 japanese cords 1.png DD24 33 english cords 1.png|Glitter Heart: "Watch out!!" DD24 34 japanese cords 2.png|Cure Heart: "Aaaahh!" DD24 35 english cords 2.png|Glitter Heart: "Oh!" Diamond and Rosetta/Clover are tied up, too, but they go by so fast that it was too hard to screencap. Makoto/Mackenzie is running towards the girls to save them. For some reason, she didn’t transform before doing so; if she did, she would have been faster. Anyway, she tries to run up the steps when she’s suddenly knocked over by Ai/Dina. To Makoto/Mackenzie’s surprise, Ai/Dina is holding a new Cure Lovies/Glitter Charm. Dabi/Davi urges Makoto/Mackenzie to use it on her, so she does. Dabi, like Sharuru and Raquel, has her own unique phrase that she says when one of Ai’s Cure Lovies is put onto her. Dabi’s phrase is, “Dabi de Dabi de Dabi!”, which sounds kinda stupid, but not as stupid as Raquel’s phrase. Davi doesn’t seem to have her own phrase. Instead, she urges Mackenzie to put the Charm in quickly. As Makoto/Mackenzie releases a burst of energy from Dabi/Davi, Ai/Dina uses some magic of her own. The two beams come together to reveal a mirror. It turns out the mirror is magic; it shows the princess’s face and allows her to talk to Makoto/Mackenzie. Makoto/Mackenzie frantically asks if the princess is awake. The princess says that she isn’t, that she’s only able to talk to Makoto/Mackenzie by using Ai/Dina’s powers, and that the powers won’t last long. For some reason, the princess knows Ai/Dina’s name even though she was born after she disappeared. The princess then exposits some pretty disturbing information. It turns out that she was conscious the whole time she was imprisoned in the ice, but she was unable to speak or move. Naturally, being in such a nightmarish situation made her lose hope. But far off in the distance, she was able to hear Makoto/Mackenzie’s singing, and it gave her the strength to continue hoping, no matter how long her imprisonment would last. Even if Makoto/Mackenzie’s singing didn’t find the princess, it helped to preserve her sanity. The princess tells Makoto/Mackenzie to sing for herself instead of her, now that she’s feeling okay. In the sub, Princess Ange adds that she’s fine now that Jonathan is helping take care of her. She says that Makoto/Mackenzie is happy when she sings, and that makes her happy. As Makoto/Mackenzie tears up, the princess’s image in the mirror fades. Dabi/Davi says that the princess feels the same way as everyone else. Makoto/Mackenzie’s singing career means a lot to everybody, especially Makoto/Mackenzie herself. In tears, Makoto/Mackenzie hugs Ai/Dina and Dabi/Davi, admitting that she never really wanted to quit singing. She thanks them both for supporting her. We cut back to the fight. In the sub, there’s some very cliché dialogue where Leva says that it’s the end of Pretty Cure, Diamond says it isn’t, Rosetta says they’ll never give up, and Heart says that they’ll definitely protect Makoto’s precious concert. “We’ll definitely protect ___’s precious ____” has been said so many times over the course of the Pretty Cure franchise! In the dub, the dialogue is a lot better. Riva says that it’s the Glitter Force’s farewell concert, Diamond says it isn’t, Clover says they aren’t even a band, and Heart says that it’s Mackenzie’s farewell concert, not theirs. Then, a purple dagger cuts through the cords restraining the three warriors. In this way, Sword/Spade makes her appearance. Dialogue is added where Heart excitedly remarks that Glitter Spade made it. Sword/Spade thanks the other three for supporting her all this time. The Jikochuu/Distain then interviews Sword/Spade in much the same way as it did the other three. The Jikochuu asks why Cure Sword sings if she’s a Pretty Cure; the Distain says that many people say that one can’t be a Glitter Force warrior and a singer at the same time and demands to know what Glitter Spade thinks of that. This time, Sword/Spade doesn’t hesitate. She doesn’t even flinch; she just responds. Cure Sword simply says that she is a singing Pretty Cure; Glitter Spade says the people who say she can’t sing and fight are wrong. Leva/Riva mocks Sword/Spade for her desire to sing. Leva says that it’s useless; Riva sarcastically calls it “an effective battle strategy.” Cure Sword says that singing is fun and makes her happy. She loves to sing, and that’s why she sings. Glitter Spade says that her singing brings people together and makes them happy, and she loves causing those emotions in people. This scene has a quick flashback to Makoto/Mackenzie doing music and people’s reactions to it throughout the series. One of the clips has Makoto/Mackenzie playing a “Hamaya”-brand keyboard. This is an anagram of “Yamaha”, a real life brand of keyboard. Cure Heart says that she also likes Cure Sword’s songs; Glitter Heart tells Glitter Spade to keep on talking and says that Riva knows nothing. Then, Leva/Riva says that Makoto/Mackenzie is selfish because she only sings because it makes her feel good. Makoto/Mackenzie says that it may be selfish, but when she’s happy, it makes everyone else happy, too. Because of this, she says that she will sing. This declaration causes a purple aura to appear around Sword/Spade, much like the pink one that appeared around Heart last episode. As we pan up on Sword/Spade’s glowing body, dialogue is added where Davi wonders why Spade is glowing. Then, Aguri/Natalie, who has somehow gotten onto the roof, congratulates Sword/Spade. Aguri says that Pretty Cure’s powers come from love, and doing the things you enjoy is a form of love itself. By overcoming her doubts, Sword has unlocked an even greater love. Natalie says that by admitting her determination to do something she loves, Mackenzie has unlocked a new power and “leveled up.” She says that the secret to doing something well is giving it all your love and commitment and that she knew Spade would figure it out. Aguri reminds Sword/Spade of the five oaths/rules of Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force. Aguri says that the first oath is to give people your love. This contradicts last episode, where Cure Ace said that the first oath was that a Pretty Cure always looks to the future. Natalie’s line makes more sense. She says that the second rule of the Glitter Force is to do what you do with love. Aguri says that Makoto’s songs fulfill the first (-ish) oath of Pretty Cure by spreading love and tells Makoto to continue singing her songs of love. Natalie says that if Mackenzie just adds love, there’s no reason why she can’t be a singer and a Glitter Force Warrior. She then transforms into Cure/Glitter Ace and does her catchphrase. I guess Heart doesn’t have a monopoly on repeated catchphrases after all. The Jikochuu/Distain tries to interview Ace. The Jikochuu asks what sort of sweets she likes; the Distain asks if she’d “care to comment on her upcoming defeat”. Instead of answering, Ace kicks the Jikochuu/Distain in the face. As the Jikochuu/Distain slams into the ground, Leva berates Cure Ace for getting in the way of his performance, while Riva says that he doesn’t need a Distain to defeat Glitter Ace. Cure Ace says that Leva’s “performance” is a nuisance to others; Glitter Ace says that there’s no way a joker like him can beat an ace. Leva/Riva throws his top hat, but Ace blocks it with a shower of rose petals. This is desaturated. DD24 36 japanese petals 1.png|Cure Ace: "The conciet of your stage is a bother to others!" DD24 37 english petals 1.png|Glitter Ace: "A joker beating an ace? I don't think so." DD24 38 japanese petals 2.png|Cure Ace: "Haaagh!" DD24 39 english petals 2.png|Glitter Ace: "No way!" DD24 40 japanese petals 3.png DD24 41 english petals 3.png The hat is blown back at Leva/Riva, who narrowly dodges it. Cure Ace says that she feels no love in Leva’s actions; Glitter Ace says that Riva should fold and that it’s “time to run the table”. Running the table is a phrase that relates to the game of pool, not anything involving cards. It means to succeed in sinking all of the balls in your first turn, not even giving the other player a chance to compete. Ace then uses Ace Shot. This time, it’s a bit different. Rather than putting on red lipstick and forming a red heart like she did last time, Ace puts on purple lipstick and creates a purple heart. The beam is purple, too, and it’s slightly darkened. DD24 42 japanese ace shot 1.png DD24 43 english ace shot 1.png DD24 44 japanese ace shot 2.png DD24 45 english ace shot 2.png DD24 46 japanese ace shot 3.png DD24 47 english ace shot 3.png DD24 48 japanese ace shot 4.png DD24 49 english ace shot 4.png|Distain: "Aagh! Well, wait a minute!" Although the original, red version of Ace Shot completely defeats its target, the purple version just paralyzes the Jikochuu/Distain. It seems that Ace wanted to leave the coup de grace to Sword/Spade. By her command, Sword/Spade uses Sparkle Sword, finishing off the Jikochuu/Distain once and for all. The magical daggers flying at the Jikochuu/Distain are darkened. DD24 50 japanese sparkle sword 1.png|Jikochuu: "Jikoooo!!" DD24 51 english sparkle sword 1.png|Distain: "Uh-oh!" DD24 52 japanese sparkle sword 2.png DD24 53 english sparkle sword 2.png|Distain: "Oooh!" DD24 54 japanese sparkle sword 3.png|Jikochu: "Love, love, looove!" DD24 55 english sparkle sword 3.png|Distain: "I feel a love song coming on!!" The reporter’s Psyche/heart re-enters her body and all physical damage is undone. Leva/Riva may have been defeated, but he’s not angry. Instead, he’s intrigued at the thought of fighting such a powerful enemy as Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force. After the fight, Makoto/Mackenzie’s concert occurs as planned. Mana/Maya, Rikka/Rachel, and Arisu/Clara watch her perform from the balcony. Mana/Maya and Rikka/Rachel are in awe of Makoto/Mackenzie’s performance and comment on how much happiness her singing is causing around them. They’re not the only ones who are impressed. Aguri/Natalie is getting in on the action, too, as she’s swaying along with Makoto/Mackenzie’s purple-clad fan squad. Aguri congratulates Makoto for spreading love everywhere; Natalie says she wants to forget about the Mercenares and just enjoy Mackenzie’s music. After finishing the one and only song we’ve heard from her throughout the series, Makoto/Mackenzie talks directly to the crowd. She says that she loves to sing because it makes her feel happy, and she wants to make everyone else feel just as happy through her songs. Mackenzie also says that her friends taught her how important it was to keep doing what she loves. The entire crowd cheers for Makoto/Mackenzie. In the dub, Maya’s cheering can be heard over everyone else’s, as can the final lyric of Mackenzie’s song. With this, the episode ends. Overall: This episode was a much-needed focus on the Pretty Cures other than Heart and Ace. Since about episode 16->12, everything has centered around Mana/Maya, Regina, or Aguri/Natalie, with the other three “main” characters as an afterthought. It’s nice to see Makoto/Mackenzie back in the spotlight because she has the most engaging character arc out of everyone here. Not only does she have to cope with having failed to save her kingdom, but she also has to deal with her singing seemingly not having any effect on finding the princess at all. She must have felt just as useless as she’s appeared for the past few episodes. I also like that Aguri/Natalie seemed like a lot less of a jerk here. Last episode, she was beating poor Mana/Maya while she was down, expecting her not to show any sign of sadness at her new friend, Regina, being kidnapped and brainwashed. Here, though, all Aguri/Natalie said was that Makoto/Mackenzie’s doubt was impeding the quality of her singing. She was stern about it, but she had a point. Makoto/Mackenzie was feasibly able to follow through on Aguri/Natalie’s advice, and this ultimately had a very positive effect on the purple warrior. Additionally, the fight this time was pretty cool. The physical combat and animation weren’t anything special, but I really liked the Jikochuu/Distain’s personality. Ace Shot having multiple different versions (presumably to match each warrior’s color) with different effects is a great idea, too. And I like that it was ultimately Sword/Spade who dealt the final blow. Next time: Sebastian invents a device that lets anybody become a Pretty Cure/Glitter Force warrior! Category:Blog posts